There have not been any changes in the rules concerning calling the screen as far as I know. I think that the Referee may have misunderstood what was being presented or created his own interpretation based on what was being said.
The NFHS Rules Book concerning Screening in Rule 6-4 has not been changed from what it stated in last year's Rules Book:
Quote:
RULE 6, SECTION 4 SCREENING
ART. 1 . . . Players on the serving team shall not take action to prevent receivers from seeing the contact of the the serve or the path of the served ball. Potential screens exits, but are not limited to:
a. When a player(s) on the serving team waves arms, jumps, moves sideways or stands close to the server, and the ball is served over the player(s).
b. When a group of two or more teammates stand close together, and the ball is served directly over them.
PENALTY: A loss of rally/point is awarded to the opponent.
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The NCAA Rules Book does a really nice job of covering screening in Rule 13.2.4:
Quote:
ARTICLE 4. Players on the serving team must not take action to prevent receiving team members from seeing the contact of the serve and/or the path of the ball.
a. Potentially, screens exist when the ball is served over a player on the serving team who raises or waves arms, jumps, or moves sideways when the service is being executed. A sanction may be assessed for distracting or moving sideways to prevent an opponent from seeing the serve even if the ball is not served over that player.
b. Potentially, screens exist when a group fo two or more teammates stand in close proximity and the ball is served over them. The factors to be weighed when judging whether a screen has been committed are:
1. Relative positions of the players on the serving team;
2. Path of the serve;
3. Speed of the serve; or
4. Trajectory of the serve.
If the serving team players are positioned close to each other and a serve that is fast and has a low trajectory passes over these players, the probablility is greater that a screen has been committed. There is a lower probablitlity that a screen has been committed if the players are not positioned close to each other or are attempting to prevent he screen (e.g., bending over); the path of the serve is not over the player; the speed of the serve is slow; or the trajectory of the serve is high.
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The thing that I like most in the way that the rule in both books is written is that it tells us that a
potential screen
may exist if those situations occur. It does not say that the screen must or does exist. So, I have a key question that arises in your specific situation: was the receiving team able to see the server or the contact of the serve and/or the flight of the ball? If the answer to any one of these questions is "yes", then a screen did not occur and the Referee goofed big-time in his interpretation.